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Thursday, March 29, 2018

One Person, Many Acts of Kindness

By Charlotte Bennardo

Photo by Artem Beliaikin from Pexels

Through the many (gulp!) years I've been a part of the writing community, there are always people who surprise you with their kindness. Yes, there are a lot of good people, but some go beyond being nice and do something special. One such person is Kathy Temean. She runs the Writing and Illustrating blog where she reports daily on personnel and submission changes in the industry, lists contests, and hosts not only debuting authors, but one page agent/editor critiques, book giveaways, and advice articles from established authors.

What makes Kathy special is that she is the biggest cheerleader for authors and illustrators. She talks up their work, features them, and later, supports them by buying their books. She has such enthusiasm it's like the favorite aunt who loves anything you do and not only brags about it, but shares pictures with anyone who'll listen. Kathy was one of the first people to buy Sirenz and gushed how she'd been waiting for it to come out. She might even have seen an early draft and critiqued it. And she's been enthusiastic about every book since that came out. A former regional advisor the New Jersey Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, she championed a lot of us through the years, and put aside her own work to promote the organization and its members. In a highly competitive industry, she's one of those you can trust. And it's time I gave a huge, heartfelt, humble, and happy Thank You!